Song Spotlight: Peach Pit's Peach Pit (a night at the Greek Theatre)

I don't get the opportunity to shoot the Greek Theatre all that often. When I got the opportunity to shoot Peach Pit at the venue, I obviously jumped at the opportunity. You can read my US Rocker Music review here. 

Peach Pit at the Greek Theatre

At some point during the set, lead singer Neil Smith mentioned that their first US show was at the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles. Perhaps unknown to the band, the Bootleg Theater shut down just as venues were re-opening; however, the space is occupied by another venue called 2220 Arts. That 2220 aligns with the street address.

During the encore portion of the set, Smith came out to sing a solo of their song "Peach Pit." Prior to playing the song he added more context to that Bootleg night, “We started from very humble beginnings. Our first show was at the Bootleg Theater. It wasn’t an all ages venue. So there were like ten tickets sold. We had a lot of teenage fans so we went to the parking lot around back. Maybe around 20 kids showed up and we did a mini-concert before the show started.”

Peach Pit at the Greek Theatre

That comment about doing a mini-concert sounded vaguely familiar. I swear I recall a fellow photographer coming up to me when I arrived and mentioning that a band had played outside (now, of course, I'm sure Peach Pit wasn't the only band who ever played a set outdoors at the venue, but it wasn't something that always happened). I decided to do some digging around since I hung out at the Bootleg many a night. If the show they’re talking about was August 28th, 2017, I have to make a small correction. It was actually a free residency night. For those unaware, back during that time frame, music venues across Los Angeles had band residencies on Monday nights. Also playing the night was Janelane, a favorite band of mine.

I was there that night, but I did not see Peach Pit. I reached out to Laena Myers of Raw Geronimo / Feels (who was one of the Noh Starrs for the residency band Brian Hill & the Noh Starrs). Her speculation was that they were the first band up. Considering this night was in late August and knowing that where I worked at the time required extra long hours during the last few days of a month, I suspect I missed their set due to work. 

Peach Pit at the Greek Theatre

Back to the Greek Theatre. After discussing the Bootleg Theater, Smith also mentioned that the song "Peach Pit" was the first song he pitched to guitarist Chris Vanderkooy when suggesting that they form a band. The song is about not being able to get beyond the surface level in a summer fling. 

It's been a long season through

All this rotting fruit with you

It's been a long season through

This rotting fruit with you

It is a poignant song, but Smith kept it light. As the crowd sang along, he noted that many of them didn't know the proper lyrics as he told them that the word "all" during the chorus was supposed to be sung just the first time, not the second time around: all this rotting fruit with you versus this rotting fruit with you.

Setlist: Magpie, Drop the Guillotine Psychics in LA, Black Licorice, Up Granville, Give Up Baby Go, Outta Here, Did You Love Somebody, Being So Normal, Alrighty Aphrodite, Shampoo Bottles, Private Presley. Encores: Peach Pit, Tommy’s Party.